Microbial and Algal Biocatalysis: Development of Sustainable Platforms for the Production and Transformation of High-Value Compounds

The use of microorganisms as cell factories has become a cornerstone of modern biotechnology, enabling the production and transformation of a wide variety of compounds. Bacteria and fungi have traditionally been the main systems used in industrial biocatalysis and biotransformation processes. More recently, microalgae have emerged as promising alternative platforms due to their metabolic versatility, photosynthetic capabilities, and potential for sustainable production. Advances in genomics, systems biology, and synthetic biology have expanded our understanding of microbial metabolism and facilitated the development of engineered pathways for the production of complex molecules. A wide range of enzymatic systems contribute to these processes, enabling diverse biochemical transformations. However, the integration of different microbial and algal systems into efficient, robust, and scalable bioprocesses remains a key challenge and an active area of research.Microbial and algal systems are increasingly recognized as versatile and sustainable platforms for the production and biotransformation of high-value compounds, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, and industrially relevant molecules. Despite significant advances in microbial biotechnology, important challenges remain in optimizing these biological systems for efficient, selective, and scalable transformations, particularly for structurally complex and diverse compounds. This Research Topic aims to address these challenges by bringing together recent advances in microbial and algal biocatalysis, with a focus on understanding and exploiting the metabolic potential of a wide range of organisms. Emphasis will be placed on the development of innovative strategies combining enzyme discovery, metabolic engineering, and process optimization to improve the efficiency and sustainability of biotransformation processes. By integrating knowledge across different biological systems, this Topic seeks to contribute to the development of next-generation biotechnological platforms for the production and transformation of high-value molecules.This Research Topic welcomes original research articles, reviews, and perspectives addressing microbial and algal biocatalysis for the production and biotransformation of high-value compounds. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to: • Microbial and algal metabolism of complex molecules (e.g., natural products, pharmaceuticals, and other bioactive compounds)• Enzyme discovery and characterization, metabolic engineering and synthetic biology approaches, and the development and optimization of bioprocesses for sustainable production.• Contributions exploring microalgae as emerging platforms for biotransformation and compound accumulation, including studies in model organisms such as Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, are particularly encouraged. • Interdisciplinary studies integrating microbiology, biochemistry, and biotechnology are highly welcome. This Topic aims to attract contributions from diverse biological systems and application areas, providing a comprehensive overview of current advances and future directions in microbial and algal biotechnology.Please note that Microbiotechnology does not consider descriptive studies that are solely based on amplicon (e.g., 16S rRNA) profiles or comparisons of nucleic acid extracts (e.g., metagenomics), unless they are accompanied by a clear hypothesis and experimentation and provide insight into the microbiological system or process being studied. Topic editors: Alejandro Chamizo Ampudia, Angel Llamas, José Manuel Fernández Cañón Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80599/microbial-and-algal-biocatalysis-development-of-sustainable-platforms-for-the-production-and-transformation-of-high-value-compounds